{"id":167637,"date":"2017-01-23T08:30:27","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T22:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=167637"},"modified":"2020-06-29T20:09:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T10:09:00","slug":"ltg-says-mine-threatens-water-supplies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/01\/23\/ltg-says-mine-threatens-water-supplies\/","title":{"rendered":"Lock The Gate Says Mine
Threatens Water Supplies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drew<\/a>
Lock The Gate Alliance
president Drew Hutton<\/figcaption><\/figure>January 23, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Lock the Gate Alliance and local farmers have condemned last week’s move by Federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, to approve the Acland Stage 3 coal mine expansion.<\/p>\n

“We’re devastated that the Federal Environment Minister has decided to approve a coal project that will do such extraordinary damage to our water resources,” local cattle producer Frank Ashman said.<\/p>\n

Modelling shows the Acland Stage 3 coal expansion is likely to impact 350 groundwater bores and will cause a drawdown in groundwater aquifers of up to 47 metres in some locations.<\/p>\n

“Josh Frydenberg has literally hung our farming community out to dry – we’re entirely dependent on water to maintain our long-term farm enterprises,” Mr Ashman said.<\/p>\n

“The Minister has put our national food bowl here on the Darling Downs at risk for a short-term mining venture that will be here and gone in 12 years\u2019 time. It\u2019s a disgrace.”<\/p>\n

Drew Hutton, the president of Lock the Gate Alliance, said he thought Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce and the National Party should hang their heads in shame. <\/strong><\/p>\n

“Approval of this mine by the Federal Government represents an abject betrayal of their farming constituents,” Mr Hutton said. <\/p>\n

“They are hell bent on destroying two of our finest food bowls, the Darling Downs and the Liverpool Plains, and they now represent as great a threat to farmers as the mining industry itself.”<\/p>\n

Lock the Gate Alliance and local farmers are calling on the Queensland Government, which has not yet approved the mine, to reject the project and protect farmland and water resources.<\/p>\n